Shelly Beach (also sometimes referred as Shelley Beach [1][2]) is a beach located in the Manly area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is close to North Head and Fairy Bower.
Shelly Beach is protected from the ocean swell by the reef that lies on the right hand side of the beach (when facing the ocean) and faces west.[3] Facilities include a free barbecue, showers, toilets and a kiosk selling meals, drinks and ice cream. There is a restaurant on the beach called Le Kiosk.[4] There is a bush track around the headland offering spectacular views of the Northern Beaches. The facilities also include parking (not free).
On the western point of the beach is a famous surf break known as "Bower" which offers one of the cleanest waves in Sydney. Further along from Bower are Winki and Deadman's, two other well-known breaks which are popular with surfers, especially on south-east, and east swells.[5] Shelly beach is also the only inland facing ocean beach on the East coast of Australia.
Shelly Beach is also very popular for the underwater world. A lot of scubadiving centres take their students there, because for the first dive it's a safe, easy site.[6] The visibility is usually good and a large variety of water animals live there.[7][8] It not only is excellent for scuba divers, but also for snorkelers[9] as Shelly does not get very deep, its maximum depth being about 12 meters.[10] In fact many areas are shallow with depths ranging from 2 to 6 meters.[11][12] This particularity makes it very popular for casual and regular snorkelers. Cabbage Tree Bay (of which Shelly is part) was declared a ‘No Take’ Aquatic Reserve on 31 March 2002.[13] Regular divers will tell you the marine life has increased significantly in this time, however no formal studies have been conducted as evidence.
There is also a Shelly Beach in the Cronulla area in Southern Sydney.
